ButtKicker BK-GR Gamer
by Buttkicker
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List Price: Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of ButtKicker BK-GR Gamer
Customer Review: Nice but plenty of room for improvement
Summary: 4 Stars
The Buttkicker Gamer is a nice addition to a gamer machine. I play only flight sim games and it really adds to the immersion. It is definitely worth $100.
The positives about the BK is it does not use any special drivers; just plugs into your sound card and you're off and flying. Since it makes no sound, you really feel the "sound" without bothering anybody. It does rattle the floor some though so you can't (and probably don't want to anyway) turn it up too much. It does require some fine tuning and in my case (I have a Sound Blaster Live! 24bit card), I had to enable CMSS 3D which was off by default in order to get any output from the BK at all. It took me two days to figure that out.
The negatives are certainly aggravating. There is this huge cable snaking all over the floor around your chair. No small wire there; this sucker is a CABLE! The instructions are quite poor and are written for musicians hooking this thing up to a stereo system and were just sort of re-written slightly toward a computer gamer as an obvious after thought. If you go to their web site seeking further help, you get basically online versions of the printed doc. Not a lot of help there. My unit came missing the straps that secure the monster cable to the legs of your chair but fortunately I have plenty of large tie straps so that didn't bother me that much. The legs that hold the unit up fit very loosly and fall right off if you move or pick up the unit. I ended up gluing mine in place.
If I had this to do again I would do it; especially since I've seen it for considerably less that $100 lately. It certainly complements 5.1 sound and force feedback sticks very nicely.
I recommend this product now that you are fully aware of the negatives.
Customer Review: Warning
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had my buttkicker for about 5 months now. There is 1 big problem with it. There is a brand new theater just built in the town next to mine, and I hate going because the theater does not have a buttkicker on the chairs.
This thing is just amazing. I was looking at it for over a year contemplating about buying it. I finally gave in and it's great. I hooked it up to my Futon in my college apartment, and the result from everyone that's sat on it has been the same; they were in awe. The trick is to turn the sound up on the device so it's enough of an input for the buttkicker to work with.
The CONS!! Why 4 stars? Two big reasons.
First, the fan! It's loud and annoying, but if you put the buttkicker in the right place you can hear it, but only slightly.
Two, I had a little problem with the power cord. When I first got the buttkicker the power cable didn't want to sit right. Haven't had problems with it in a couple months though. Fixed itself I suppose.
When I get older I plan on getting the bigger one for my home theater system. There is no words for how great this device is.
Another story if you want more to go with, I took this to my friend's house where he has a 52" HDTV with a nice 6.1 surround sound system. We hooked it up to his stereo and started playing Guitar Hero II. My friends didn't believe it was so good. In fact, after just 1 song, my friend went to Amazon on made the purchase. Be prepared to get involved in games.
Customer Review: 4 Stars
I just got it hooked up on my office chair, it's... pretty cool. :)It can REALLY get things vibrating, and when you have it cranked, you'll feel all of the things that are loose in your chair. :)
You'll NEED a strong heavy chair for best results. My office chair is comfy for me, but it's got some loose parts. The ButtKicker manual talks about stuffing foam into those places that vibrate, it's not a bad idea. For now, I have it turned down so as to not get the passer-bys to ask "why is Mark vibrating?" but even at low levels it adds a good level of fun to the whole sonic experience. I've only tried it with tunes at this point, this should be a lot of fun for gaming!
"Nice to find extras"
- Level control on the amp
- Switchable lowpass filter
- Switchable highpass filter with adjustable cutoff
- NICE assortment of cable adapters and cable ties
"Kinda Bummers"
- The amp has a constantly running fan that's kinda' loud. In the office it's fine though, it helps mask the chatter. Woulda' been nice to have the amp auto powerup on when there's sound.
- There's a cable on the floor from your chair to the amp. Inevitable of course, and it's not bad, just something you gotta watch if you like to sit & spin. :)
All in all... GOOD PURCHASE! RECOMMENDED!
Customer Review: This makes games come alive!
Summary: 4 Stars
This thing is pretty basic. It vibrates like crazy to simulate bass sounds. This model is made to hook up to a desk chair and it works great at that.
I, however, hooked it up to my Playseat Evolution with Logitech G25 steering wheel. For driving games, you can feel the rumble of the road underneath, and that combined with a large HDTV, 7.1 surround sound and force feedback steering wheel will make your xbox 360 or PS3 driving games come alive!
Don't like driving games? Install this on your couch or gaming chair (you might have to get creative) and suddenly be whisked away to the intense vibrations present in a warlike environment or FPS. It's not virtual reality, but this device definitely raises the immersion level a little bit.
For the price, this is a cool thing, especially for an apartment or house where you can't turn up your subwoofer to get a lot of vibration. It's not for everyone, but that is something that is hard to advise. If you think you will like this, you probably will. If not, don't expect it to change your life. It's just a little thing that vibrates.
Oh, and you can also hook up your mp3 player or computer to it. It comes with several audio adapters and makes it really easy to hook it up to anything that outputs sound.
Customer Review: Good if used for Stereo and others but not Toslink
Summary: 4 Stars
Works as advertised but had hoped to use with my PS3 and Logitech Z-5500
via toslink optical sound cable. Not a huge deal and I'm not sure if there is a work around but none that I've discovered thus far. It'll work if you use the stereo leads from the PS3 to inputs for BK amp then go into tv and take output of tv to Z-5500. But you have to switch from "optical" 6 to stereo setting. But if you have the z-5500's set up then bass from the Buttkicker isn't really needed. If you live in an area where noise must be limited then this unit starts to shine. No problems with mine once I figured it out but do wish they would spend a bit more time on documentation. Guess they have enough for normal hook ups, just us abbey normal kinda folks I guess. Amp is loud but fans will do that. Gotta make noise to keep things cool for a case this size. If the case was larger they could use quieter fans but then we'd complain about that too. Neat toy but I coulda done without it. But it works as long as you moderate the settings. Set it too high and you'll drive the piston to full stroke and it'll clatter. My chair has a "knee" action and tends to dampen some of the vibrations but a standard desk chair should be just fine.